The Stone of Valfir
by Cr0w
Summary: I changed the storyline a lot: Strange occurences seem to echo throught Aglaesia. Sightings of wild dragons, new riders, a roaming elf, and a mysterious foreigner seem to rock both the Varden and the Empire. What is the meaning of this?
1. The Power of Memories

**The Stone of Valfir**

**Chapter One**

**The Power of Memories**

She was motionless, lost in thought, staring at the solemn scene before her. Most of the debris had been cleared, but the horror and shock still remained. It was just a week later, and she stood there, reliving the nightmare.

* * *

_A bone-chilling scream split the tranquil night air. Alana shot up from bed and burst out the door of the tree she called home. Looking around, she saw many of her neighbors doing the same. A smarting stench reached her flawless nostrils, and she immediately knew what was wrong._

"_FIRE!" screamed the villagers as they struggled to tame the blazing inferno._

_Incantations in the ancient language were shouted in an attempt to put out the flames. Alana re-entered her home with haste, seized her two swords, one green, the other white, and exited once more. Just as she was about to run towards the fire, something else caught her attention: a dragon with flashing teeth and glistening red scales. It was enveloping the village in fire and fear. Its spiked tail was wreaking havoc as it swung at anything in its path. Alan's green eyes narrowed in disgust when she saw a man on the back of this creature waving his gleaming blood red sword in the air. On the breastplate of his black armor, she could make out the crimson insignia of the Empire. _

_Men on both foot and horseback poured into the village as she leapt into the fray. _

_Alana speared a horseman with Risdoom, her father's green sword. The blood ran down the ivy shaped channels imprinted into the blade, making the carvings become a treacherous burgundy. Alana killed another man with the white blade of her mother's seemingly weightless sword, Oraelin, and ran towards the oncoming soldiers. Alana fought with the skill of a seasoned warrior. Her hours of training and practice came back to her, the lessons of her parents echoing in her mind._

_"How could they have broken through the magical barrier?" She thought in bewilderment. _

_After killing twenty or more soldiers, Alana felt the ground beneath her feet shudder. She attempted to clap her hands over her delicate pointed ears as she heard a deafening roar. She turned around, knowing what she would find. The dragon was thirty feet away, and his red eyes were piercing her skull. She stared back defiantly until another shriek broke her stare. One of the soldiers was pulling his sword out of the body of an elven child. Enraged, Alana ran towards the soldier, swinging both swords over her head. She beheaded him and pierced the heart of another. _

"_Alana!"_

_It took a while for her to realize that someone was calling her name. _

"_ALANA!"_

_Alana turned her head towards the voice. Her good friend Lifyar, who was ushering the children and the elderly into a large tree, was beckoning her to come with him. _

_"COME ON!" He shouted amidst the confusion. _

_Fending off another wave of men, Alana took the offer and sprinted towards him. Without looking back, she dove into the tree and slammed the door behind her. When she hit the ground with a "thud", Alana found herself underground in the pitch black. She heard the shallow breathing of her neighbors around her._

_"Is everyone ok?" a voice asked._

_"Hmph… Oh, but of course." Someone mumbled sarcastically._

_Alana murmured a couple words under her breath, and her palms began to glow, shedding some light on the miserable scene. Only a quarter of the townspeople were present. All huddled together, listening to the noise coming from outside. _

_They heard the screams of their friends and family... _

_the roars of the red dragon... _

_the crackling of fire as it licked up the trees above them..._

_And then... _

_..**then**... _

_they heard nothing._

* * *

**ooh wasn't that special? ;) well this is my first fanfic so I hope you don't find my writing too mediocre. If you have any suggestions or compliments feel free to submit a review or send me a message ;D. I might not be updating in a while, but I'll try to asap :)**


	2. Peripheral Vision

**The Stone of Valfir**

**Chapter One**

**Peripheral Vision**

The fire's hunger had not been sated until it had devoured the entire forest area around the village. Alana, along with the other inhabitants of Saraveil, had tried to locate anyone or anything that had escaped the destruction wrought by the Empire's army.

They failed.

The villagers had fought valiantly, but it just hadn't been enough.

She appeared to be at the middle of Elfish adolescence - her slender body graced with beauty and wisdom beyond her years. Her eyes were a vivid green, accented with dramatic streaks of blue, violet, and brown. Alana felt the sting of tears in those eyes, but refused to cry. Turning to leave the site, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Ever ready, she turned her head and placed her hands on the hilts of her two swords all in one swift movement. She relaxed after she realized that it was, however, a crow. The bird's sleek feathers matched the color of her silky hair. The majestic bird cocked its head at her, its black eyes meeting hers, and then took off. She watched it fly away, and then turned back to where it had been standing.

A glint caught her eye. Eager to see if something had escaped destruction after all, Alana began to clear away the rubble. She found a dust-covered necklace.

Brushing away the ash with a flick of her wrist, Alana found a necklace with a sliver chain on which was a pendant displaying designs of flames that seemingly flickered about in the light. Imbedded in the intricately designed pendant was a white stone. Alana breathed in sharply.

"The Stone of Valfir…" she whispered.

A crack sounded throughout the clearing as someone stepped on a branch. Alana became alert. An arrow buried itself in the ground inches from her foot. A quick analysis told her what she needed to know – black shaft, red arrowhead – the Empire was back.

* * *

The hot midday sun seemed intensified by the dust, sand, and lack of wind. A dragon stood regally on a cliff; her eyes scanned the blue sky, the waves crashing into the rocks below, and, finally, the clouded horizon in the distance. 

"_So much like my future_," she thought, looking at the girl who had appeared at her side, "…_so clouded and uncertain_..."

The girl's large circular earrings, made of the inside of a clamshell, glinted in the light. Her short black hair quivered as she moved to brush her bangs out of her eyes… and those eyes! They looked out at the dragon from their amber depths, partly hidden behind the black veil of hair that had once more fallen into place. And, what did they see? They saw a slender orange dragon – her scales glistening in the sunlight. Two white spikes jutted out from each side of her snout, and a large cluster of horns covered the top of her head. Smaller spikes continued down the center of her neck and back, following her spinal cord until it reached the tailbone. From there, a long thick tail was visible. Near the end of the tail, two spikes protruded from each side and at the very tip, a diamond shaped spike completed the tail. All spikes, horns, and claws, were white, as were her wing membranes which were now folded up and not in use. Three black marks in a shape similar to scratches crossed her back width-wise, and two more were on her left thigh. These markings had appeared at birth.

She may not have been the most beautiful dragon, but she had a beauty of her own: a beauty admired by her people. Her horns gave her a fierce look, but she was a princess: they were her crown and she wore them with pride.

"We should go, Kacha," said the girl tenderly.

"_I know, Maya_," the dragon replied, looking out at the sea with her coal black eyes once more, "_I know_." Maya smiled sadly as she climbed onto the leather saddle between Kacha's shoulders. Kacha spread her wings and launched herself from the cliff, beating her powerful wings with vigor. There was no one to see them off, and they didn't look back as their small island home vanished in the distance.

* * *

"Arin! Arin! Come look at what I found!" cried Aubrey, hastily running to his brother, "I think it's a girl!" 

"A WHAT!" Arin asked.

"A GIRL, Arin! A GIRL," Aubrey, the younger of the two, shouted, "Follow me!"

The two boys, ages 16 and 17, scrambled over the sand dunes to the place of Aubrey's encounter. Sure enough, something lay in the rocks, waves lapping at the lower half of its body. Running over to it, Aubrey waited for his brother to approach.

The two boys dragged the body out of the water and turned it over. What Arin saw made his breath catch in his throat.

It was clearly a girl around his age, but she was so different from all the girls he knew. When turned over, her head lolled to the side and her large earrings shimmered. Below each of her eyes there was red tooth-shaped marking. Her hair was short, ending slightly above her shoulders. She was scantily clothed, it seemed to him. A strip of animal skin was fastened around her chest, just covering it. Her stomach was bare and slender and her skirt was short. There were slits on both sides spanning its length. Underneath and attached to the skirt something similar to underwear could be seen. Her skin was naturally tan, and her hair naturally black. She was so exotic… so… unusual… she was like nothing the simple fisherman's son from Terim had seen before.

Arin was jolted back to reality by his brother's voice which was saying, "Arin, stop gaping. She was probably washed in by last night's storm. It was pretty bad. Her breath is shallow and – I wonder how she got those scratches."

In the midst of admiring her, Arin hadn't noticed the three long scratches – no, gashes – that his brother was talking about. Stretching from her cheekbone to just below her ear, the gashes were still bleeding and had started to swell.

"We need to get her to a healer," sensible young Aubrey said, "These could become infected!"

With that, Arin hoisted the limp body into his arms. Being the bigger of the two, he held the weight easily. However, there wasn't much weight to hold. The girl's body was light, and he was thankful of that fact. Long years of dragging nets of crabs and fish out of the water and onto the docks had built up muscle in the young man, but his arms were still sore from dragging yesterday's bountiful catch. Arin was a healthy weight, and although he was strong, he was still slim. He had curly black hair and dark blue eyes. Many said that they matched the sea. His brother was slightly shorter than he, with curly brown hair and eyes and a build that were similar to Arin's.

Within no time at all, the brothers and their burden had reached the nearest healer's place of business. It was a cluttered little place with herbs and bottles scattered about. The place was full of things, but there was one thing missing: the healer was nowhere in sight. The two decided to wait. Arin set the girl down on the counter and proceeded to catch up to his brother who was walking around the room. Aubrey picked up something green and slimy.

"A FROG? What could he possibly want with a FROG?" Aubrey exclaimed with a look of disgust on his handsome young face.

Just then, a gust of wind came from the direction of the door. The wind chimes began to sound.

"_Why are there wind chimes in here?_" Arin thought to himself. However, when his eyes rested on the enormous silhouette in the doorway, he stood frozen with no thoughts whatsoever. Behind him, he heard a loud thud. Both brothers looked back, seeing that the girl was nowhere in sight. Arin looked around, wondering where she could have gone. Then, a moan could be heard.

"Its coming from behind the counter!" Arin exclaimed.

"Of course it is, idiot. The girl fell off of the counter," Aubrey said in a bored tone. Arin glared at his brother, but ran behind the counter to help the girl. When he looked back at the door, it was shut, and the silhouette was gone. He offered a hand to the girl who now lay on the floor rubbing her head. She looked at the hand and then her eyes traveled up his arm to his head and then to his eyes. When she fully realized that he was, in fact, a human, she started. Arin watched her eyes closely. He had never seen eyes of that color before. Her eyes were rimmed with long, thick eyelashes which gave them a dark mysterious halo. The girl jumped up suddenly.

"EH! Mek ot kree?" The girl inquired.

"I'm sorry… I don't understand," Arin said.

"Mek ot kree! Un af set atiot? Mek ot kree!" The girl repeated. Arin sighed, understanding that he would get nowhere with the spoken language. He pointed to himself, then his brother, and then gave her thumbs up. The girl raised an eyebrow. Arin held out his hand and reached for hers. Alarmed, the girl pulled out two hidden daggers and held them ready in her hands. The obsidian blades gleamed treacherously at the young boy. Before he knew it, Arin was pinned against a wall, the cool blade of one of the girl's daggers at his neck.

"Mek ot kree! Un af set atiot? Aachim nes fot rolck?" She hissed in his face. Suddenly, Aubrey appeared behind her and put his arm around her neck, trying to pull her back. She struggled for a few seconds, and then bit his arm ferociously. He let go with a yelp. She still had Arin pinned to the wall with her dagger and asked him the question once again.

"UN AF SET ATIOT!" She screamed.

Aubrey appeared once more behind her, this time with something in his hands. He dropped it on her head. The sound of breaking glass could be heard, and then the girl crumpled to the floor unconscious.

* * *

**I'm so sorry I took so long to update. :) suggest, comment, criticize… all is welcome!**


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